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The Russian Orthodox Church has called for an end to the "monopoly of Darwinism" in schools, saying religious explanations of creation should be taught alongside evolution.
"The time has come for the monopoly of Darwinism and the deceptive idea that science in general contradicts religion. These ideas should be left in the past," Archbishop Hilarion said at a lecture to Foreign Ministry officials.
"Darwin's theory remains a theory. This means it should be taught to children as one of several theories, but children should know of other theories, too," he said Wednesday.
The atheist Soviet state used Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to disprove the biblical teaching that God created the world. The theory, which biologists say gives a verifiable explanation for how life forms develop through natural selection, now dominates in Russian schools as it does in science teaching in most countries.
Hilarion said the theory that one species could evolve into another had never been proven. Children "should know about the religious picture, the creation of the world, which is common to all the monotheistic religions," he said.
Lyudmila Alexeyeva, a veteran dissident, said Russian liberals would fight any attempt to introduce religious teaching into the classroom, particularly in science.
"It's a dangerous idea, and we will do all we can to stop it," she said. "We overcame communism as the state ideology, and certain forces want to replace it with Orthodox Christianity."
She said it was unlikely that religious teaching would replace Darwin in the national curriculum, but it could find its way into some schools with enough pressure from the church.
Hilarion heads the church's external relations department. His lecture was dedicated to fighting "fanatical secularism" of liberals hostile to religion and called for dialogue with moderate secularists and cooperation with Catholics against common foes.
Church Wants End to Darwin School 'Monopoly'
Archbishop Hilarious sez: "... religious explanations of creation should be taught alongside evolution."
There WAS NO 'creation'. We KNOW how the sun, the solar system and the earth were formed... in exactly the same way that we can SEE OTHER suns and solar systems taking shape in nearby star-forming regions of the galaxy. Magical sky-fairies have no place in explanations for the origins of the universe and our world... nor in explanations for the origins, the development or the diversity of life on our planet.
Archbishop Hilarious said: "The time has come for the monopoly of Darwinism and the deceptive idea that science in general contradicts religion."
That's not a 'deceptive idea'... that's the truth. Illness is not caused by demons. The earth, a solid sky, with Heaven on the other side of the sky does NOT define the extent of the universe. There was not Noahic flood. The earth was NOT poofed into existence by an invisible, magical, all-powerful, supernatural sky-fairy. Lightening is NOT a sign that the gods are honked-off. We are NOT able to consume the actual flesh of a cosmic Jewish zombie, in the form of a cracker. The Archbishop is either deliberately lying, or he is insane... probably a little bit of both.
Archbishop Hilarious said: "Darwin's theory remains a theory. This means it should be taught to children as one of several theories, but children should know of other theories, too."
Children should be told the truth... and the truth is that the genetic makeup of populations of organisms (the GENE POOL) changes, over time (evolves). That is the FACT of biological evolution. In science, 'theories' occupy a much higher level of importance than mere facts, and theories do not make-up facts... theories EXPLAIN facts. So, the THEORY of evolution explains the FACT of biological evolution... it tells us HOW the genetic makeup of populations of organisms (the GENE POOL) changes, over time (evolves): descent, with modification.
Archbishop Hilarious sez: "The theory that one species could evolve into another had never been proven."
Archbishop Hilarious is hilarious. If he knew anything at all about scientific theories, he would know that theories DO NOT GET 'proven'... ever. 'Proof' is for mathematicians, logicians, coin collectors, and distillers of alcoholic beverages... NOT for scientists. The Archbishop seems to think scientists claim that creatures 'evolve'... but they don't. Creatures DO NOT evolve. DNA does not evolve. One kind of creature does not give birth to another kind of creature. One kind of creature does not transform itself into another kind of creature. There is not, never was, and never will be something that is half one-kind of creature, and half-another kind of creature. It is the GENE POOL that 'evolve'... NOT creatures... NOT DNA. The Archbishop is scientifically ignorant, and needs to stay focused on the myths, superstitions, fairy-tales, fables and fantastical delusions of the ignorant gaggle of Bronze Age fishermen and peripatetic, militant, marauding, murdering, genocidal goat-herders, from whence his world-view directly depends.